Sharing my love of seed beads, bead weaving and bead embroidery, and the success, doubts and insights that go along with it all!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

2012 Battle of the BeadSmith Tournament

I LOVE the online beading community; it's such a supportive and hugely talented group of bead artists that encourage and inspire one another. I'm constantly challenged to push the limits of my own beading abilities while being astonished by the artistry of others. You might think that with so many beaders there would be a lot of competition and jockeying for position, but I've found quite the opposite. Well, OK, maybe a little competition, but in a wonderfully good natured way. In the words of The Beadsmith's Steven Weiss, "There are no losers, but there is only one winner!" I was thrilled to have been invited to join The Beadsmith in the "Heavy Metal Jewelry Challenge" earlier this year. To promote their line of metal seed beads a group of beaders were offered seed beads of their choice to create some heavy metal jewelry.

"Heavy Metal" Copper Cellini Spiral

Inspired in part by college basketball's "March Madness, the Beadsmith has invited 80 seed bead artists from all over the globe to participate in an elimination tournament to determine which piece of their original beadwork best
captures the imagination of their fellow designers, specialty
bead shop owners, and members of various beading magazine editorial
staffs. I can't describe what an honor it is to be considered among so many of the "Bead Gods/Goddesses".

UPDATE: I have been paired with the incredible Christina Neit of GoodQuillHunting! I have long considered her to be among my favorite bead goddesses, so I'm honored, inspired and perspiring!

On May 14th random artist pairings will be created establishing a
first round of competition consisting of 40 artists vs. artist
"contests".
Artists will then have seven weeks from the announcement of the first
round pairings to create a single piece of original beadwork, and
submit four photos best highlighting the works most important elements.
The competitors not involved in a particular round plus invited judges will vote for the piece that best captures their
imagination. A majority of total voters
will determine a winner. All necklaces, bracelets,
earring, brooches, headpieces, belts, handbags, or any other wearable
adornments are acceptable for submission. The deadline for all of the
submissions is July 10th.

Stay tuned to this blog and on facebook for updates and check out the incredible work of the participants on Facebook: Battle of the Beadsmith: https://www.facebook.com/thebeadsmith